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After the Hobin Yoo company had been formed life had continued on as normal. Sure it was more chaotic what with finding a building and thinking up new content ideas but that was something he expected going into it.
Hobin should have been completely focused on building up the company and finding a way to take down Seongjun, but one thing kept nagging at him. It had been weighing on his mind ever since the company had been formed and was slowly driving him insane. What had Jiksae promised Taehoon?
There was no way that Taehoon would join on his own. He had made it abundantly clear he wasn't interested in joining after Hobin had announced his new company, but now here he was, making content with them. It just didn’t add up. What could Jiksae have said to make his answers change so drastically?
It shouldn’t have bothered him so much. Taehoon joined the company and everything was going smoothly so really he shouldn’t have cared, but it did bother him and he did care. He wouldn’t have given it much thought but he knew it involved him somehow.
He saw Jiksae had whisper something to Taehoon. Then, He had looked at Hobin and walked directly up to him and placed a hand on his head. It’s not like he hadn’t tried asking Jiksae about it afterwards, but all he managed to get out of him was a guilty look to the ground and some quiet incoherent mumbling.
Hobin had finally worked up the courage to ask Taehoon. He simply couldn’t stand the not knowing. Besides, what if Jiksae had given away all his rights or something? Maybe he had signed Hobin away for something dangerous. In the end, he decided a quick beating for asking was better than being involved in something weird or being kidnapped (again).
Hobin took a deep breath and looked up at Taehoon who was sitting across from him trying to figure out how to film an intro and failing.
“So Taehoon,” Hobin began.
“What?” Taehoon replied without even looking up.
“Well I’ve been curious about this for a while, well actually not that long only like a week but with everything that’s been going on lately it feels like a lot longer so-“ Taehoon gave an annoyed grunt encouraging him to get to the point. Hobin took one more breath in.
“Taehoon what did Jiksae promise you in order to make you join the company!” He blurted out.
Taehoon finally looked up from where he was seated. This was it, the big reveal the question of the hour.
“Get up,” Taehoon said. What? That wasn’t an answer at all. Hobin had already made up his mind. He was going to find out what had been promised even if he got killed for it.
“Hang on!” Hobin exclaimed. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what he said to you.” Without saying anything Taehoon got up from the chair he had been sitting on and yanked the back of Hobin's shirt, flinging him up from his seat and onto the ground.
“What the hell?” Hobin yelled from the ground.
“You gonna stay there all day?” Taehoon asked.
Well this wasn’t going in the direction he thought it would. All he wanted were answers but instead he was being evicted from his seat. Whatever, as long as he got closer to finding out he would do it.
“Where are we going?” Hobin asked skeptically. The only reason they ever saw each other was because Hobin needed to learn some taekwondo or he needed some content, it made no sense to go somewhere together.
“I’m not going until you at least tell me where we’re going”
“Stop being such a pain you’ll find out when we get there,” Taehoon replied just trying to shut Hobin up. Hobin didn’t care though as long as there was a chance he would find out he was going.
“Fine but you better tell me the secret when we get there” Taehoon gave a dismissive wave in response and started walking. Hobin followed him.
They had been walking for about five minutes (all of which Hobin was alert and looking around him prepared for whatever evil prank or ambush Taehoon might have planned) before Taehoon finally announced that they had reached their destination. Hobin looked up preparing himself for whatever was in store. McDonald’s. Taehoon had taken him to a fast-food restaurant.
“Hey wait why are we-“
“I’ll tell you at the end of the day,” Taehoon cut him off knowing what he was going to say. “Until then, shut up and don’t be difficult.”
“Yeah because I’m the one being difficult here,” Hobin huffed under his breath. Taehoon must not have heard him because he walked through the glass doors, even holding them open for Hobin. Taehoon continued on to the register and began ordering. Ah, it finally clicked in his brain. Taehoon wasn’t planning on telling him he just wanted free food.
“The booth near the back looks open.” Hobin was too busy being pissed at Taehoon for him using him as a wallet that he didn't realize Taehoon had already finished ordering and paying.
“Huh? What about the payment?”
“If you wanna pay, have at it,” Taehoon said walking to the booth. They sat down and remained in what would have been an awkward situation if Hobin had been paying attention instead of thinking about how weird this whole thing was until the food arrived. Why would Taehoon pay for his food and make him wait to find out. He probably would have left earlier if Taehoon hadn’t paid. His from back when he was broke of never denying free food was really annoying.
Throughout the entire meal which Taehoon had bought for some reason he kept stealing glances at Hobin and when Hobin would return the looks he would look away. What was happening? Hobin wasn’t even paying enough attention to know what he had eaten, he spent the time running through scenarios about what could possibly be going on. Maybe Taehoon was acting friendly so he could surprise attack him, or maybe he was being so nice to extort the food money from Hobin later then beat him up when he couldn’t pay it. Pretty much every scenario ended with him getting beat up.
“So…” Hobin began cautiously. “Where are we going now,” he asked as they left the restaurant.
“Arcade,” Taehoon replied simply. So he was going to be paying for Taehoons arcade games while watching him. Fun.
“Also why did you pay for my food normally, when the company orders food you all make me pay for it” Might as well ask this since Taehoon clearly wouldn’t tell him the other thing he was dying to know.
“Pretty sure that's what you’re supposed to do on dates.”
Huh? Dates? Like with the two of them together? On a date? Wait wait wait did Taehoon think that this was a date? Maybe he had misheard him or misunderstood. There was no way-
“We’re here”
“Wait what was that thing you said before about a d- hey stop walking away!” Hobin tried calling after him but he was already too far away. Dammit this day just kept getting weirder.
Taehoon took a seat at his normal spot at the fighting game he always played. Ok, so they were going to play fighting games now just gonna completely ignore what Taehoon said before cool. Just get through this, find out what Jiksae promised Taehoon and leave. This day was going to drag on forever wasn’t it.
“Haha loser,” Taehoon chuckled in victory.
“Whatever, I still won more games than you,” Hobin huffed. He leaned back in his seat and stretched his neck getting ready for another game. Leaning back he got a look out the window, “Oh it's already dark out”
“Hmm? Oh yeah, let's start heading back,” Taehoon said while standing up.
They began walking back to the office. Hobin couldn’t believe how much time had passed. He had expected to spend the time at the arcade sitting around waiting for Taehoon to be done but it was surprisingly fun to play with him. Actually, when he wasn’t watching his mouth to make sure he didn’t say anything that would get him beaten up, spending time with Taehoon wasn’t so bad. Sure, he wasn't the most talkative but he was actually pretty enjoyable to hang around.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Taehoon asked.
So this was Taehoons attempt at conversation. One more thing Hobin had noticed spending the day with Taehoon was that he was pretty awkward. It made sense since the only interacting Taehoon had before Hobin was fighting, but it was nice to see this new side of him. Almost cute but not because Taehoon was a guy and that was weird.
“Just that this wasn’t as bad as I expected, it was fun,” Hobin responded. “You’re actually not so bad when you aren’t threatening to beat me up”
“Oh,” Taehoon said and looked away. Wait, was that blush? It was too dark to tell but Hobin could have sworn he saw his ears go pink.
“So uh about what blondie promised…” Taehoon began.
Hobin had been so distracted by his thoughts he almost forgot that's why he was there in the first place.
“Stand still” Hobin wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything but he was so curious he complied. He moved his feet together, straightened his posture, and stiffened up his entire body.
Taehoon leaned down towards him. Finally, he would learn what Jiksae had refused to tell him and had been eating him up inside ever since he first learned about it. He kept getting closer, it was a little weird why he would need to be this close but Hobin was dying to know. There were so many possibilities that Hobin had run through his head but none of them made much sense. It would be such a relief to finally know what-
Hobin's thoughts were cut short when he felt a pair of lips on his cheek. Wait- those were Taehoons lips. Huh? What? Pardon? Taehoon had just kissed him. His first kiss was with a guy and Taehoon nonetheless.
“Uhm yeah that was the promise,” Taehoon said mumbled quickly. He stood back up and walked away with his hands in his pockets which would probably be a cool exit except for how fast he walked and him almost falling.
Hobin was too shocked to freak out. Did that really just happen? It definitely did but why? How? When? Where? What? He practically spent the next however long short-circuiting. By the end of his episode, he had worked 3 things out.
Number one, he was going to kill Jiksae the next time he saw him, like not just cuss him out or hit him a few times, but actually kill him. He seriously couldn’t be bothered to tell him something this important? He couldn’t just say “Hey I promised Taehoon a date and your first kiss” he just had to leave it out. Jiksae was dead.
Number two, he was going to avoid Taehoon for the foreseeable future, forever if possible. Maybe he would change his name and move to Siberia, maybe he could get Taehoon to change his name and move to Siberia, he just couldn’t be within two million miles of Taehoon.
Number three, as much as he hated to admit it, the whole “date” and kiss thing hadn’t been so bad. Don’t get it twisted, he would much rather have this experience with Bomi, a nice first date and a romantic kiss, but Taehoon had been considerate and was just awkward about it. Also, for a guy Taehoon had soft lips and was a pretty delicate kisser, Hobin couldn’t help but wonder what an actual kiss on the lips would feel like- wait no no no, Taehoon was a guy and Hobin was straight.
Of course, if it happened again Hobin wouldn’t exactly complain.